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Chippenham. Notes of its History. 



Exhibitions of Arts. Separated by distance and the perils of the 

 journey, each man was, for so much time, banished from his home 

 and family. Working therefore under so many discomforts for 

 the good of his country constituents, it was not unreasonable that 

 they should supply their representative with some consolation. 

 But in course of time the sympathy of the constituents cooled, and 

 they began to grumble. The next step was to come to a com- 

 position with the " sitting member." From two shillings per 

 diem they brought him down to one : and from that sometimes to 

 a payment or rather a " testimonial " in kind ; the kind being 

 somewhat shabbily selected among those commodities which they 

 could afford to part with, at the least possible loss to themselves. 

 Of this there is a curious instance in an agreement (on record) 

 between the Electors of Dunwich on the Suffolk coast, and their 

 Representative. Dunwich is famous for its herring fishery : and 

 the bargain to which they screwed him down was this: viz., "That 

 whether the Parliament hold long time or short, or whether it 

 fortune to be prorogued, he will take for his wages, a barrel and a 

 half of herrings, to be delivered by Christmas ! " 



If the walls of this old building could speak, they could probably 

 tell us some odd history about Borough elections in former times. 

 A few little anecdotes about a contest in 1699, have fallen in my 

 way. The candidates we will call Mr. A. and Mr. B. Mr. B. 

 was the winner : his return was petitioned against ; and among 

 the many witnesses put forward to prove bribery and corruption, 

 were as follows : — 



Robert Taylor swore that Mr. B. had given him Is. and promised him £2 2s. if 

 he would do his best to get his brother William Taylor's vote. He did 

 his best : and afterwards when he asked Mr. B. for the £2 2s., Mr. B. told 

 him he knew nothing about that matter. 



William Taylor, the brother, said he had heard about the £2 2s. and had voted 

 for Mr. B. accordingly. That he had intended to vote for Mr, A. : but 

 Mr. Scott, one of Mr. B.'s agents had suddenly offered to lend him £50. 

 He didn't want to borrow the money. So Mr. Scott then promised him 

 twenty bushels of wheat — but he had never received the wheat. 



William Morley said that he was fond of fishing : and had formerly been bound 

 over in a bond not to fish in Mr. B.'s waters : but all at once, just before 

 the Election, he was told he might go fish there. 



James Stokes testified that he came to Chippenham in September and asked 



